Fixed and reusable physical asset monitoring and control are perennial concerns in retail, manufacturing, shipping, and various other settings. Operating businesses in these fields often entails the identification, transferring, placement and removal of assets such as reusable containers. In the reusable container and canister sphere, it is preferable to identify and track the movement of assets such as beverage kegs and gas cylinders, among others, as soon as possible after their departure from their location of storage, display, or sale. Typically, it is also desirable to be able to identify asset movement, loss, destruction or theft of these items through an identification sensor, label or tag located on the asset.
In order to identify and monitor of various assets, conventional asset inventory and security systems employing identification technology have been developed to utilize barcode scanners, radio frequency identification (RFID), electronic article surveillance (EAS), weight scales, cables, tethering devices, wireless sensors, and closed-circuit television networks. However, due to the inherent drawbacks and costs of such systems, even when properly implemented, theft or loss of assets is often not detected until long after the occurrence thereof, usually with such theft or loss not being registered until or even after the required return date. This state of affairs results in considerable product and revenue loss due to pilferage and inadequate asset identification and utilization to meet demand. Reducing the cost of asset identification systems is a primary concern to many businesses. One of the main costs associated with attaching asset identification technology such as RFID, barcode tags, sensors and similar identification tags to assets is the labor associated with attaching said identification tags to said assets. Further, attachment mechanisms such as adhesives, rivets, bolts, screws, or stud welds and the tools necessary to install such attachment mechanisms similarly increase the cost of attaching prior-developed identification tags to desired assets.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an identification technology carrier system and method designed to easily and securely attach an identification tag to an asset without relying on expensive fasteners or adhesives, additional labor, or specialized tools to attach said devices to the desired assets. These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be explained and will become obvious to one skilled in the art through the summary of the invention that follows.